Chaos in Axially Symmetric Potentials with Octupole Deformation

Abstract

Classical and quantum mechanical results are reported for the single particle motion in a harmonic oscillator potential which is characterized by a quadrupole deformation and an additional octupole deformation. The chaotic character of the motion is srongly dependent on the quadrupole deformation in that for a prolate deformation virtually no chaos is discernible while for the oblate case the motion shows strong chaos when the octupole term is turned on.

6 pages LaTex plus 4 figures available by contacting the authors directly, published in PHYS.REV.LETT. 72(1994) 2351